Those Darn Rings
by Loudpeltwarrior
Summary: Ah, man, I hate summaries. Well, anyway, Parker and Zendra basically have to find an object hidden in the depths of Olympus. Of course, Chiron doesn't tell them exactly what that object is...
1. Chapter 1

I waited patiently outside the school building, Zendra stood beside me, our backpacks slung over our shoulders. My dad had called her mom and asked her to take me to some place. Whatever that meant. I sighed and readjusted my backpack strap.

Zendra fiddled with her rings nervously, she did that when she had extreme emotions. Like anger, nervousness, sorrow, etc. She rubbed her finger over the lightning bolt symbol on the bottom ring. She clenched her teeth.

Now, I should probably explain about the rings. She wore three Hematite rings on her middle finger, each had a different colored symbol on it. She never wore the same ring in one week, except for the lightning bolt one. She had said it was a gift from her father, when I had asked about the others, she said they were gifts as well, but from different people. But her rings were... Different, strange, even frightening. One ring that she had, one with a black skull, radiated extreme fear. Everybody would cower and tremble when she was wearing it. And the lightning bolt, whenever you touched it, it shocked you. Like, not just static electricity shock, but full blown blast-you-across-the-room shock. The ring with the wave on it... Well, that one was actually pleasant. If she wasn't angry or sad or something, when you touched it, it made you feel like gently waves were rolling over your feet, and you could smell a fresh ocean breeze. Well, you get the point. But the strange thing was, everybody was scared of her rings. Nobody touched them, (except for the wave one) and nobody would dare make her angry. If she was angry, and wearing the skull ring, everyone within 50 feet would curl up on the floor and scream in terror. So yeah, don't mess with her rings.

I glanced at her, she was still rubbing the ring, and mumbling words under her breath. I silently wondered what was so different about the rings... What made them the way they were? I sighed. Should I start up a conversation?

"So uh, what's so special about those rings?" I asked casually. "I mean, they're pretty cool."

She looked at me before speaking. "You'll find out soon." She said quietly, and rubbed her rings some more.

"That doesn't clear much up." I muttered and leaned against a light post.

Finally, a black SUV pulled up. The back door swung open and Zendra's mom leaned back to talk to us. "Hop in!" She called. "Camp-I mean that place-is just a couple miles away."

Zendra sighed and climbed in, I followed cautiously and settled myself in the back beside her.

I guess I should tell you about myself, I'm in 9th grade. Yep, first year of High School. I'm a fish. And my name is Parker. That's all you need to know.

The car bumped along a country road, the smell of strawberries penetrated the windows. A smile was spreading across Zendra's face, and I wondered why the heck she was smiling, which was cut off by a deafening roar of thunder.

"OH SHUT UP, DAD!" Zendra yelled, she fiddled with the lightning bolt ring. I raised an eyebrow.

"Dad?"

"You'll learn about him soon enough." She growled and sank into her seat.

Her mother glanced at us through the rearview mirror, an amused smile was on her face.

"Oh, uh, k." I tried to relax, but with those rings so close to me, I felt like I was going to jump out of my seat. She was wearing all three of the scariest rings. The bolt, the wave, and the skull.

"Gods, calm down Parker!" Zendra muttered, she dug in her backpack and pulled out a small box. I peered in as she opened it, and gasped. The box was full of rings, all with a different colored symbol. She pulled out a ring with an owl on it, and took my hand. I could feel my face growing hot. She gently pushed the ring onto my middle finger. A shiver ran don my spine.

"Well, that's good. Looks like your mother isn't in the mood to blast you." She said before putting the box away.

"My mother?" I asked stupidly, staring at the ring. I could energy flowing through me, plans rushing through my head. My brain power felt like it had tripled.

"Yeah, your mother. You'll know about her too, when we get there." She nodded to me like what she had just said was the most normal thing in the world.

"Uh..." I mumbled.

The car veered to the left and stopped abruptly. "Here you go." Zendra's mother called from the front seat. "Oh, and Zendra, don't do anything stupid while your at camp."

"No worries, Mom." She smiled and motioned me to get out of the car.

"Um, thanks Ms. Zendra's mom!" I said quickly before following her out. "So that's it? Your mother's just dropping us off in the-" I stopped and stared at the place before me. "Woah."

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." Zendra smiled and sprinted towards the awesome camp thing.

I followed, trailing slightly behind, tacking everything in. Was that an exploding rock climbing wall? Cool.

"This is Chiron." Zendra nodded to a middle aged man in a wheel chair.

"Uh, hi." I murmured.

He glanced from the ring on my finger, to Zendra. "I see you gave him Athena's ring."

She nodded. "I figured Athena wouldn't destroy her own son."

He nodded.

"Wait... Athena, as in, greek god Athena?" I asked.

They both nodded. "Haven't you told him anything?" Chiron asked her.

She shook her head. "I didn't think he would need to know until now."

"Good idea. Go ahead and explain while your showing him around." He instructed before turning back to a book he seemed to be reading.

Zendra nodded to me and motioned me to follow her. As she stepped into the light, it suddenly struck me how beautiful she was. Long, flowing black hair, dazzling green eyes, tan skin... Woah.

My vision was cut off as her eyes lit up. I followed her gaze until I saw a guy about our age walking up to us, she sprinted forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

He smiled warmly and returned the hug. I raised an eyebrow, my sudden feelings toward Zendra dropped steadily as I realized who the heck this guy was. It was her boyfriend, it was obvious.

She slipped her hand into his as they walked back to me. I itched to run, this was seriously awkward.

"Parker, this is Trey." She nodded to a the lean looking blonde guy that she was currently holding hands with.

I nodded to him. "Nice to meet you."

"I guess I should explain to you who you are. Your a Demigod, like Trey and I." Zendra said simply. "Your mom's Athena. I knew immediately the first time I saw you actually think." She smiled. "So yeah, welcome to your new life."

I stared. It actually wasn't that surprising, I had always known something was different about me. "You said that you and Trey," I gave a slight nod to the blonde dude, "are Demigods too... So whose your parent?"

"Well, my dad's Zeus." She grinned, taking the hand with the rings and holding it up. The lightning bolt glowed with power, I could literally feel the electric current flowing through it. "And Trey..."

"My mom's Ceto." He shrugged. "Goddess of Bizarre Creatures."

I nodded slowly, "So does that mean you can like, fry somebody to ashes if you wanted too?" I directed the question to Zendra, I didn't know Trey that well, but I could tell we weren't going to get along to well.

"Pretty much." She nodded.

Trey glanced around. "Oh gods, I gotta go. Apparently my cabin can't handle the task of cleaning up without terrorizing the camp." His gaze was on a couple of kids who were being chased by the weirdest creatures I'd ever seen. There was a wolf that had long birds wings, and a huge tabby cat with even bigger teeth.

Zendra giggled weakly. "Well, you better take care of it."

He nodded and raced down the hill.

"Well, he seems to know his own importance." I retorted.

"He just has a lot on his mind." She muttered.

"_Him? He_ has a lot on his mind? I was just told that my mother was a fricken' god!" I snapped. I didn't know where my sudden anger had come from, and I didn't feel like finding out.

"No! Parker, that's not what I meant. He was just appointed cabin leader, the other one... Well, she died. But that's not important."

"Oh really? _Somebody died and it's not important?_ Really? Who the heck are you? I used to think you were pretty cool, but apparently I was wrong!" I scowled.

"_Parker!_" She gasped, I could tell she was exasperated. "That's not what I meant! I just-I mean-I barely knew her. _You_ didn't even know her!" She looked at me with pleading eyes.

I glared at her. "Whatever." I crossed my arms in defiance. "So, that's why you didn't say yes to anybody?" I motioned to Trey at the bottom of the hill.

"Well, yes." Zendra suddenly seemed very interested in her shoe laces. "He's a nice guy, alright? And you don't find those a lot."

"_Those? _You don't find _those_ a lot?" I could feel my glare intensifying.

"Ugh!" She rolled her eyes. "Your impossible!"

"Your ignorant." I shot.

"Whatever." She growled. "Come on, you've got a camp to tour." She grabbed my by my shirt sleeve and dragged me away.


	2. Chapter 2

As we made some rounds around the camp, I could feel a shift in her mood. I could just tell, something in her eyes gave her away.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" I said as we walked down to the Pavilion. "I just didn't realize how much you liked him, k?"

A long silence followed my words. "You don't have to apologize." She said at last. "I was wrong too. I guess I forgot what it was like to figure out who I was." She bit her lip.

I glanced at her, she had that same look on her face that usually meant '_I'm so confused...'_ Again, her eyes gave her away.

Actually, Zendra was thinking that. But it was more like this: _I'm so confused, I love Trey, I really do... But... _She looked at me, _He _(he, as in me) _just understands me so much better. I don't know what to do, they're both so different... _ She shook her head.

I looked at her again, I couldn't help noticing that beautiful glow to her. "Well, at least we don't owe each other... Owing is not fun."

She smiled, and I couldn't help smiling back. Her smile lit up the world.

"So er, now are you going to explain about the rings?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah." She was looking at me strangely, and it made my skin squirm. "They're gifts from the gods. The lightning bolt is from my father, Zeus. The wave is from Poseidon, and the skull is from Hades. And the others are from the rest of the gods."

"Ah." I nodded and sat down on a bench.

"DON'T SIT THERE!" She yelled and tackled me off the bench.

My 'Ah' didn't sound so dignified anymore. It sounded more like: "AHHHHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! OMG, THERE'S AHHHHH CRAZY ZEUS GIRL ATTACKING ME! AHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"Oh shut up!" Zendra growled and pulled me to my feet. "Don't sit on any bench except your own. That," She pointed at the bench I had been sitting on, "is the Hades bench. Don't sit there, and you won't die."

"Comforting words." I mumbled and brushed the dirt off my jeans.

She ignored me and marched on, I had to sprint to keep up.

"That's your cabin." She motioned to a shining silver cabin.

"You expect me to go in there, and NOT get blinded?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I do." She retorted and grabbed my shirt sleeve again, dragging me in. "This is Parker, your new sibling." She shoved me forward, in fact, she shoved me with such strength, that I toppled over and fell flat on my face.

"Ow." I muttered and stumbled to my feet.

The other kids raised their eyebrows and stared at me with skeptical looks. A girl parted the group walked forward. (Not Annabeth!) She had long blonde hair, and grey eyes, like me.

"I think he'll do, even if he's a klutz." She crossed her arms. "I'm Lynn, and your cabin leader."

The kids all said their names and went back to whatever they were doing.

"Er, nice to meet you. I'm Parker."

"We know." They all said at once without looking up.

"Um, that's nice." I bit my lip.

Zendra elbowed me and dragged me out again. "Never, EVER, talk back to them like that. They ignored you, but next time, they'll have a blade at your throat in an instant."

"Friendly, aren't they?" I scowled.

"Whatever." She growled.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked angrily.

"I don't hate you. I'm just frustrated at you." She snapped.

"_Frustrated?_ What about '_I guess I forgot what it was like to figure out who I am'_, huh?" I shot back.

"Would you stop using my words against me?!" Next thing I knew, I was against a wall with a sword's tip pressing into my throat. I could feel the electric currents zapping my nerves. I could feel myself spazzing on small things, like how her eyes looked like they had a million volts passing through them, and the kids throwing a copper football in the background, but what saved me from getting knocked out, was the way I noticed where she was tensing.

A quick moment flashed by, and she was suddenly on the ground, her sword flying into the forest. What had just happened? What had I done?

Zendra struggled to sit up. She stared at me with new light. "That was awesome." She said after a moment of awe.

"Uh, what exactly did I do that was awesome?" I asked gingerly.

"You like, did a flip over me, and then grabbed my sword from behind and shoved me to the ground. It was really awesome." She grinned and held up a bloody hand.

"Oh my God!" I rushed forward. "Your hand-"

"-is fine." She finished and stood. Static engulfed her body, for a second, she was just a huge ball of light. The static evaporated and revealed her. The cut on her hand was gone, and her eyes glowed with renewed energy. She leaped to her feet and did something that surprised me. She hugged me.

She quickly backed away, her cheeks red. "Er, that didn't happen. You mention a word of that to Trey, and your dead."

"Got it." I nodded to her, I could feel my own cheeks burning. "So, er... What next?"

"Nothing." She said, "We finished the tour."

"Oh..." I shuffled my feet. I had to admit, I was a little nervous after that hug.

Zendra sat down on a bench under a tree, apparently it wasn't a cabin's bench because she didn't freak out when I sat down next to her. Well not _next_ to her, but close enough.

She glanced at me, and I could tell she was thinking about something. Now what she was thinking about... I didn't know.

"So... I heard Terri-"

I cut her off. "-Yeah, she did. But I ignored her. It's not like she's anything special." I muttered.

"Oh." She crossed her arms. Was that satisfaction in her eyes?

This was making me uncomfortable.

"So do you have a special someone?" She asked quietly.

"No." I responded simply. "It's not like I needed one."

"Oh." She repeated, again, that gleam of satisfaction was in her eyes. "Hey, look, time for dinner. Come on!" She grabbed my by the collar of my shirt, and for a minute, I thought she was going to kiss me. She obviously realized how awkward the scene looked, because she let go of my shirt and grabbed my sleeve. She dragged me away, _again._


	3. Chapter 3

As we trudged down the hill towards the Pavilion, I couldn't help thinking about how strange this all was. One minute I'm a normal person, the next I'm a freak. I could hear the people before I saw them. Shouting, chatting, hushed whispers, fighting, eating, you name it. It was happening.

Zendra raised an eyebrow. "It's usually not like this.... Unless..." Her eyes lit up, and a grin spread across her face.

"Unless what?" I asked. I hadn't hated being confused before.... But now, I did. Like I was a new person.

"Unless Chiron is about to assign a quest!" Zendra said, her voice gave away the fact that she was thrilled.

"A quest?..." But she didn't answer, she was already running towards the benches. I sighed and followed her, more slowly. I glanced around, where was I supposed to sit?

"Hey, newbie, over here!" The Athena cabin leader, Lynn, called. I quickly walked over and slipped into the bench.

"Eat here. No where else." Was all she said before Chiron-wait-that was NOT the old man I'd seen in the wheel chair... It was a centaur.

"I can see news of the quest has leaked out." The centaur dude said, and held up a hand for silence. "There has been an... Ah, discovery. A magical object has been detected in the depths of Olympus. A powerful magic object, one that could take down the gods. Three of you will be going to Olympus to find this object." He glanced around, his eyes settling on Zendra, who was looking at him with big electric green eyes.

"Zendra, if you accept, you will lead this quest."

She nodded. "Yes, of course, sure, I'd love too, yeah, by all means." She grinned.

I thought she was over doing it. I mean, all of those ways to say 'yes'... Lame.

"Good. Then you must choose two other companions." The horse dude smiled.

Zendra glanced around and then looked over at somebody in the back. "Trey..."

"Duh." I recognized Trey's voice, which was saying a lot.

"Of course." Somebody muttered in the back. "It's always Trey."

I couldn't help chuckling at the comment, but I guessed nobody had heard over their excitement, because they didn't seem to notice.

"And..." Her gaze struck me like a tidal wave. I glanced around, trying to avoid her eyes. "Parker."

_Oh great. Pick me, why don't you?_ I rolled my eyes. "No way."

"Yes, way!" Zendra grabbed my hand, which made me blush, and pulled me up to stand next to her. "Now you can prove yourself."

Somebody groaned, but I decided to ignore it. I glanced at the back, where Trey was sitting. The son of Ceto's eyes looked slightly angry, probably about me coming, or the fact that she grabbed my hand. But, whatever. I had a stupid quest I had to go on.

Horse dude nodded. "Very well. You will leave tomorrow morning." He turned and cantered off.

I stared around, people were walking off in groups. I waited till everybody had left except for Zendra and I. And then, I shouted.

"WHY THE HECK DID YOU PICK ME?" I yelled.

"Shut up." Zendra rolled her eyes. "It's not like the end of the world."

"I can't fight, I can't do ANYTHING." I scowled.

"Just be lucky I even picked you." She grabbed my shirt sleeve, _again_, and dragged me towards the arena thing.

She threw a sword at me, and I dodged with ease, though it still gave me a reality check.

"WHAT THE HECK?" I screamed, my fists clenched.

She rolled her eyes again. "I was throwing you a sword. You know, to fight with?"

"Oh." I turned and picked up the sword. I held it at the ready.

When she charged me, my whole mind changed. I was thinking strategy, not '_OMG, I better stay alive and not get killed'_. Nope. I got a feeling that living and dyeing wasn't exactly on the top of every Demigod's list.

I parried her slash with a quick blow to her hilt, but she held firm and didn't let go. She twisted her blade upside down and knocked my sword up and towards my face.

I managed to control my sword and stepped forward, trying to get into her guard, but I guess she knew the move, because she stabbed her sword upwards. My sword got pushed back towards me, so I really didn't have time to watch what she was doing. Which was bad. Before I could react, she was behind me, her sword slashing dangerously close to my back.

That thing happened again. The thing where I blacked out and couldn't remember what I had done. My brain cleared, and I was alone.

"Er, Zendra?"

"HIYAH!" The cry echoed across camp, she leaped out the tree, slashing at me at the same time.

I sidestepped. She was falling, about to hit the ground... But she did the weirdest move I'd ever seen... She drove her sword into the ground right before she hit, and use the hilt as a pole thing. She flipped over and landed on her feet.

"Well, that was fun." She said and dusted off her jeans. She grinned mischievously and charged again.

We fought for a little while after, but eventually we drifted off to our cabins. I got scolded for walking into the Athena cabin so late, but hey, when you've been battling all night, it's not like your going to be active. As soon as I hit the bed, I closed my eyes.

The next morning, we loaded our stuff into the camp's SUV and climbed in. I crossed my arms as I sat on the left seat, Zendra in the middle, and Trey on the right. We drove through the city at fifty miles. Which made our trip pretty low key. The SUV stopped outside the Empire State building, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's right. You don't know about Olympus." Zendra nodded to me. "The gods live on the 600th floor." She said.

"600?" I stared at her.

"Yeah, 600."

We unloaded our stuff and walked in.

"Were going up to 600." Zendra said, her electric green eyes flashing as she talked to the guy behind the desk.

"There is no 600th floor." The guy grumbled.

"I don't think my father would agree with that." She held up a static engulfed hand, and the guy nodded quickly.

"Of course, right." He handed her a key card, like hotel room keys.

We headed for the elevator, which I thought was strange. I mean really. You use an elevator to get to a super-being's palace? Unreal.

As the elevator binged, we stepped out, and I gaped. It was beautiful. Long grassy meadows, crystal clear waterfalls... But beyond that, there were dry deserts and dark forests. I shuddered to think what lived back there.

"Well, looks like we got some exploring to do." Zendra said quietly. Trey and I nodded. Together, we made our way towards the meadows. Our quest had begun.


	4. Chapter 4

I walked next to Zendra, and Trey wondered off a ways. I sighed.

"Trey doesn't seem to excited that I'm here." I muttered.

"Well..." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "He's just jealous, alright? He's not used to me hanging out with other guys."

"Oh." I said quietly and kept walking. "Nothing seems to want to kill us yet."

"That's good." She responded. "I don't think this powerful item would be in a place like this, don't you think?"

I nodded. I guess she asked me since I was the son of Athena or whatever. "Looks can be deceiving." I warned.

"Well, yeah. That sounds like something Athena would think of." She smiled. "But I know my dad pretty well... If the gods hid it, than I think they would hide it in a place with lots of monsters to protect it. But if the gods didn't... Then were screwed."

I gave a short laugh. "Were not screwed until I say." I didn't know where those words had come from, but I let it pass. "There's a lot to look at. The powerful object would either be in the least protected place, or the most protected place." I glanced around at the meadow, and then at the dark forest ahead. "The meadow is stretched out, I wouldn't suggest splitting up, just in case there's a trap... We need to search together, so if we do run into something bad, we'll have a good chance at defeating it."

Zendra nodded slowly. "Makes sense."

I smiled. "Good. Call Trey, will you?"

She shot a look at me, and I could tell that she didn't exactly like me giving her orders when she was in charge. "TREY!" She called.

The son of Ceto sprinted over. "Yeah?"

"Um, we have to stay together. Parker had a pretty good assumption that the object would either be in the least expected place, or the most expected place." She explained.

He glared at me but nodded. "Sounds alright."

"So... Forward, or to the side?" I asked.

"Forward. And then we'll go back." She decided and went on walking forward.

I followed and searched for caves and whatnot. Trey fell back again, and I sighed. He didn't have to act like I was the worst person in the world.

"Nothing." Zendra muttered and we continued. We were just leaving the meadows when things turned for the worst.

I didn't like the shadows that had started to gather around us. "Zendra...." But I didn't have time to finish, monsters began to leap from the shadows, circling around us. I reached for the sword strapped to my belt. Chiron had given us a bunch of equipment before we left, which was a good thing.

I glanced at Zendra, who nodded to me. We did the natural thing, we charged.

Our blades worked like a mirror. We were back to back, slashing and slicing like crazy. I didn't know where Trey was, and I didn't care. I tried to let my brain go blank, like it had before, but nothing happened. Monsters were closing in, and we were running out of options. I whirled around, stabbing a weird dog-like thing in the nose. It disintegrated on the spot. I took a breath before slicing a man-eating butterfly in half.

"Too many!" Zendra yelled over the roar of the monsters.

"We have to keep fighting!" I shouted back. "If we die... Well, that's the end of our quest."

She nodded, though I couldn't see her, and kept fighting.

Slash, dodge, stab. The monsters were backing off, I guess they figured out that our swords weren't just pointy sticks. As the pack started to clear, I caught a glimpse of Trey, sitting in a tree, a smirk on his face, watching me fight with satisfaction in his eyes. That just made me angry. I went super-man on the monsters. Slice, stab, slash, punch, kick, you name it, I did it.

The smirk faded on Trey's face, probably because I was doing so well. The monsters disappeared into the shadows, and I plopped myself down on the grass to catch my breath. Zendra did the same, until she realized Trey wasn't among us.

"Trey!" She yelled, her eyes dimmed until they were a stormy dark green. "TREY!" She screamed and ran towards the tree where he was sitting... Except he wasn't sitting there anymore, he was sprawled on the ground, bleeding from many slashes.

What had happened? One minute he was fine and watching me get killed, the next he was on the ground and wounded. I followed, but more slowly.

I stared at the lifeless shape of the son of Ceto. My spirits dropped immediately, realization spreading over me. He had made those monsters, hoping they would kill me... Just because Zendra and I hung out... But his plan backfired, his own monsters turned against him.

"Oh... God..." I muttered, my eyes widened.

Zendra sobbed as she cradled his head in her arms. "No..." She whispered feebly. "The quest..."

Oh, right. The quest. So far, not so good. Somebody had gotten killed on the first day. Oh joy! I buried my head in my hands. We were all going to get killed... And now that it was just me and Zendra... How the heck were we supposed to survive this stupid quest?

I couldn't believe I was thinking this, but Trey deserved his fate. He tried to kill me, so I wouldn't 'steal' Zendra or whatever. He died a traitor, a jealous idiot, and the worst boyfriend a girl could ever have.

Should I tell her about what had really happened? I bit my lip, maybe I'd tell her later. She was already upset as it was.

I walked over her slowly, I knelt beside her. "Come on." I murmured. "We'll go bury him over by that willow tree in the meadow. We need to continue."

She nodded, tears streaked her face as she stood. I glanced down at Trey, how the heck was I supposed to carry him?

"Can you help me out?" I asked quietly as I took his feet. She stumbled over and took his head. We made our way back to the meadow in silence, I figured it would be a bad idea to say anything, especially since her eyes were flashing, which was usually a bad sign. So I kept to myself, continued to walk, and hoped that nothing bad would happen. That was the last thing we needed.


	5. Chapter 5

We buried Trey in silence, and walked back in silence. I don't think you want to know the details. Lots of tears from Zendra, and hate thoughts from me. We trudged back through the meadows, Zendra hadn't said a word since the attack, and I wondered what she was thinking about.

"He deserved to go to Elysium." She murmured after awhile. "He died a hero."

I wanted to say _Yeah, right. A renegade hero, but a hero. _But I didn't I said something comforting like, "Um, right."

She glared at me. One of those glares that looked like they would shoot laser beams at any moment.

I looked at the ground and we kept walking, eventually she spoke again.

"We need to keep looking. Even if T-" She broke out in sobs again, and I sighed in exasperation. We had to keep going, if we were going to find this stupid object, than we couldn't keep this up.

"Your right." I said. "We have to find it. I have a feeling we aren't the only one's looking for it."

She looked at me. "That's why Chiron sent us on this quest." I must have looked confused, because she went on. "Somebody else, an evil force, is trying to find it as well. It must be really powerful or-"

"-We wouldn't be here." I finished.

She nodded. "We HAVE to keep going. To... To honor his memory."

I guess she was talking about Trey, because it certainly couldn't be the gods, or Chiron or anybody else.

I nodded. "Good idea." With that, we kept walking... And walking... And walking...

"We should find a spot to set up camp." Zendra said quietly.

I nodded in agreement, and we made a small tent-like shelter next to one of the crystal blue waterfalls. The dark forest and the desert was just ahead... I could only wonder what was beyond that.

I sat down on a log and crossed my arms, I unsheathed my sword and flipped it over in my palm. I could feel Zendra sliding onto the log beside me... Which seemed weird, I would think she would stay away as much as possible, since Trey had just died and all.

"Hey." She muttered so quietly I barely heard her.

"Um, hi." I responded stupidly and sheathed the sword. "You okay?" I asked, though I knew it was a pointless question. Of course she wasn't.

She shrugged. "Probably. The last few summers... Well, we just grew farther and farther apart."

Again, I had the feeling she was talking about Trey. I nodded, trying to be understanding-y. "School and stuff too."

She nodded. "He stayed at camp year-round." She glanced at me. "I was going to stay year-round this past year... But, you know, there was you."

I stared at her. She sounded like she was breaking up with Trey, which was stupid because he was dead. "Er, yeah. Chiron made you or something."

Zendra shook her head. "No. I-" She stopped as if she was finding the right words. "I knew there was something special about you, Parker. Something that nobody could explain." She searched my grey eyes, and my spine tingled with unease. "Demigod's are special, but you... You have something about you that's different than the rest of us. You radiate more power."

I raised an eyebrow. "More power? But shouldn't you be more powerful? Since your Zeus's daughter and all?"

"Probably. But as I said, your different. Well, more different than a Demigod could get." She smiled.

I grinned. "So, er, awesome?"

"Awesome." She nodded in agreement.

I glanced around. "We should probably check the map..."

She nodded again. Chiron had also packed us a map, which I thought might be useful. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a map, she handed it to me.

I spread it out on the ground. "So... We're here." I pointed at some waterfalls. "We should go.... This way." I pointed towards the dark forests and the deserts. Beyond that were huge cliffs and oceans. "If there's nothing, than we go the other way." I moved my finger to the other side of the map, which looked a lot more scarier. Abyss's, caves, jungles that who-knows-what probably lived in.

Zendra shuddered beside me, and I glanced at her.

She must haven noticed me looking at her, because she glared. "What? I'm just cold."

I raised an eyebrow and pulled a sweater out of my bag. "Here."

She took it reluctantly and pulled it around her.

"We should take turns watching. You go first, I'll wake you if anything happens or when I want a break." I said.

Then she did something that surprised me even more than her weird dead person break up. She hugged me.

"Don't get yourself killed, alright?" She murmured. "I already lost-" She sniffled, "-him. I don't want to lose you too."

I gently patted her back. "I'll try."

She didn't look to happy about that answer but she nodded and pulled away. She made a makeshift sleeping bag type thing and curled up.

I blinked and went back to watch. Everything had changed. One minute we're all happy and doing good, and the next we're getting killed... I sighed, I wondered whether we'd ever get out of here alive. I mean, what were our chances if one person in our group already got killed? I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and watched.


End file.
